![]() ![]() ![]() Limiting the interactivity to Sockets may make the game a smoother VR experience, but it can also make the (sometimes large) areas between Sockets feel like empty space to sprint through, instead of encouraging you to slow down and learn about the world. Instead, they merely test your spatial awareness and logic. Unlike past Cyan games or similar titles like The Witness, the puzzles don’t reward your exploration or observations of the world. Opening doors and maneuvering vehicles with the Adjunct is awkward at first, but once you get the hang of its bidirectional control system, it’s a satisfyingly tactile way to interact with the environment.Īs for the puzzles themselves… well, I hope you like moving platforms around! Virtually all of Firmament’s brain teasers involve using the Adjunct to reposition catwalks and other flat surfaces in order to reach previously inaccessible areas. Instead, all of the puzzles are solved by using your “Adjunct,” a steampunk hand prosthetic that fires a massive screwdriver head into hundreds of “Sockets” sprinkled throughout the world. Sockets and Sprocketsįirmament is the first Cyan game where you don’t pull any levers or push any buttons to operate abandoned machinery. The result is a world that’s beautiful but sterile - a stark contrast to the lived-in vibes that animated Myst, Riven, Uru, and Obduction. It’s particularly disappointing to finally arrive at the game’s mysterious superstructures and find them mostly empty and repetitive, with only small areas to explore and little to discover. The world’s factories and depots are mostly filled with reused background assets, like nondescript crates and books. On the other hand, many of Firmament’s interiors are oddly spartan, with very few signs of life. The coastal region isn’t quite as distinct or attractive as the other two, especially compared to its psychedelically colorful concept art during the Kickstarter campaign, but its puzzles are among the game’s best. The art-deco-inspired architecture is also a joy to behold, from a cliff-spanning glass conservatory to the opulent tram stations you’re shuttled between in every Realm. When you’re traversing the snow-covered peaks of the mountainous Realm, it really feels like you’re climbing the Swiss Alps, and the natural spires of the garden Realm are as staggering as the South China Karst. The landscapes are striking, with more verticality than any previous Cyan game. Everywhere you look is “back-of-the-box-worthy,” as they used to say in the days when you bought games from CompuServe. ![]() There’s also a brilliantly designed hub area that ranks among the most iconic structures Cyan has ever built, right up there with Myst’s library and Riven’s massive golden dome. The ghostly mentor I mentioned earlier, whose disembodied voice follows you around, says these Realms were once maintained by people who have since disappeared, leaving their steampunk infrastructure in a state of decay you’ll have to puzzle your way through. There are three “Realms” to explore in Firmament: ice-laden mountains, forested cliffs, and a coastal lagoon. But for a variety of reasons - budgetary constraints, a VR-first approach to world design, and a high-concept premise that isn’t truly revealed until the last moments of the game - Firmament left me wanting much more. It’s the most fun I’ve had solving puzzles since Portal 2 way back in 2011, and it culminates in a narrative twist worthy of M. ![]() Like its predecessors, Firmament is beautiful and mysterious, with an immersive Riven-meets- Bioshock aesthetic and clever environmental puzzles that are seamlessly grounded in the story. But suddenly I’m 13 years old again, exploring the islands of 1997’s Riven for the first time.Ĭrowdfunded by a $1.4 million Kickstarter campaign in 2019, Firmament is the new first-person puzzle adventure game from Cyan Worlds, the small indie studio behind two of the best-selling PC games in history, Myst and its sequel Riven. As an adult, video games rarely fill me with awe anymore. When I reach the top of the mountain to see what’s in the valley below, my mouth falls open. The woman tells me more, but I’m already wondering: “What is she lying about?” Outside, snow is falling on a high mountain pass, where massive steam-powered machines have been abandoned between the rocks and icefalls. We’re in a dark room that looks like a WWI bunker filled with pipes and pressure gauges. I can’t tell if the woman is a ghost or a hologram, but she’s definitely dead. ![]()
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